Thou heardst my wrong, 60. Their
vengeance, all they've wrought ;
61. How they reproach'd, Thou'st heard, and what they thought ;
62. What their lips utter'd, which against me rose,
And what was ever whisper'd by my foes.

63. I am their song, whether they rise or sit ;
64. Give them rewards, Lord, for their working fit,
65. Sorrow of heart, Thy curse ; 66. And with Thy might
Follow, and from under heaven destroy
them quite.

CHAP. IV.

1. HOW is the gold become so dim?
How is
Purest and finest gold thus changed to
this ?
The stones which were stones of the
sanctuary,
Scatter'd in corners of each street do
lie.

2. The precious sons of Sion, which should be
Valued at purest gold, how do we see
Low rated now, as earthen pitchers,
stand,
Which are the work of a poor potter's
hand ?

3. Even the sea-calfs draw their breasts, and give
Suck to their young ; my people's
daughters live,
By reason of the foes' great cruelness,
As do the owls in the vast wilderness.

4. And when the sucking child doth strive to draw,
His tongue for thirst cleaves to his
upper jaw ;
And when for bread the children cry,
There is no man that doth them satisfy.

5. They which before were delicately fed,
Now in the streets forlorn have perished
;
And they which ever were in scarlet
clothed,
Sit and embrace the dunghills which they
loathed.

6. The daughters of my people have sinn'd more,
Than did the town of Sodom sin before ;
Which being at once destroy'd, there did
remain
No hands amongst them to vex them again.

7. But heretofore, purer her Nazarite
Was than the snow, and milk was not so
white ;
As carbuncles did their pure bodies
shine,
And all their polish'dness was
sapphirine.

8. They're darker now than blackness ; none can know
Them by the face, as through the street
they go ;
For now their skin doth cleave unto
their bone,
And withered, is like to dry wood grown.

9. Better by sword than famine 'tis to die ;
And better through-pierced, than through
penury.
10. Women, by nature pitiful, have eat
'Their children—dress'd with their own
hand—for meat.

11. Jehovah here fully accomplish'd hath
His indignation, and pour'd forth His
wrath ;
Kindled a fire in Sion, which hath power
To eat, and her foundations to devour.

12. Nor would the kings of th' earth, nor all which live
In the inhabitable world believe,
That any adversary, any foe,
Into Jerusalem should enter so.

13. For the priests' sins, and prophets', which have shed
Blood in the streets and the just
murdered ;
14. Which, when those men whom they made blind did stray
Thorough the streets, defilèd by
the way

With blood, the which impossible it was
Their garment should 'scape touching, as
they pass,
15. Would cry aloud, “Depart, defilèd men,
Depart, depart, and touch not us !” and
then

They fled, and stray'd, and with the
Gentiles were ;
Yet told their friends, they should not
long dwell there.
16. For this they're scatter'd by Jehovah's face
Who never will regard them more ; no
grace

Unto their old men shall the foe afford
;
Nor, that they're priests, redeem them
from the sword.
17. And we as yet, for all these miseries
Desiring our vain help, consume our
eyes.

And such a nation as cannot save,
We in desire and speculation have ;
18. They hunt our steps, that in the streets we fear
To go ; our end is now approached near.

Our days accomplish'd are ; this the
last day ;
Eagles of heav'n are not so swift as
they
19. Which follow us ; o'er mountain tops they fly
At us, and for us in the desert lie.

20. Th' Anointed Lord, breath of our nostrils, He
Of whom we said, under His shadow we
Shall with more ease under the heathen
dwell,
Into the pit which these men digged,
fell.